Playing Hearts
by D'Fuentes
Summary: "His left foot refused to bend under his will, and scores of pointed objects dug into his softer exposed flesh. It made him stop moving at once. Don't move! The Donatello within him shouted. You'll only make things worse!" One misstep sends Leonardo into a world he fears to comprehend. Watch what happens. Image by Ray Dillon
1. Dread

_Disclaimer: I own nothing! _

_I do not own Hazel McIntyre aka 'Radical' from the TMNT Mirage comics. Go find 'Complete Carnage' and you may discover who this canon character is. Btw I changed some things about her to suit this fic._

* * *

CRASH!

Leonardo's head suddenly jerked up from his steaming cup when he heard the sound of various pots and pans raucously clattering to the tiled floor of the modern kitchen. They rippled the calm flow of the stilled, nature-inspired room and contrasted the clean, grey-white walls touched with garden-green accents.

"You okay there?" He asked, suppressing a chuckle as he stood up to rush to the aid of the young woman that was busily trying to scoop up the fallen dishes.

"Yes, yes. I'm fine. There's no need for you to get up." She quickly reassured him, clumsily balancing the pans in her hands as she tried to shove them back into the cupboard. "I'm such a klutz," she fumed, slamming the door shut behind the pans, causing another loud racket to resound from within the wooden confines.

The turtle winced at the sound and gave her a sympathetic smile when she looked utterly exasperated by the entire affair. "I'm so embarrassed," she apologized with a wan smile. "I just don't know why I couldn't be…" she faltered for a word, waving a brilliant blue spatula in the air.

"More organized?" Leonardo offered, walking around the granite island towards her. "More graceful?" He teased, pulling the spatula out from her grasp and gently moving her aside to get to the mixing bowl.

"Ha-ha, very funny." Hazel narrowed her dark eyes at him menacingly and sat on a nearby stool, placing her elbows on the countertop to prop her chin up in her palms. "I'd like to see you try -" She paused when she saw the mutant dragging the bowl away from the electric mixer. "Wait, what are you doing?" she asked. Her eyebrows shot to the sky as she looked on; puzzled by the terrapin's take-over.

"I am helping you," returned his obvious reply. "But I prefer to make cake the old-fashioned way…" He explained, trailing off as he started skimming over the list of items on the pages of the fat, grungy recipe book that lay exposed on the counter.

"The _old-fashioned_ way?" Hazel snorted, raising one eyebrow at the turtle. "So you're a cake expert now?" she asked. "And here I was trying to make a nice, lovely, homemade cake from scratch for you," she pouted, pretending to be offended by his words. "What's wrong with using a mixer? The nerve... And since when do you bake?" The woman with the pixie haircut raised her chin as if to demand an answer from the ninja.

The blue-masked turtle paused to look up at her, "I like to bake the way Master Splinter taught us," he replied, shrugging. "Besides, we never had the luxury of electronic mixers and stuff," he finished lightly.

The humor disappeared from the human's eyes and she looked down at the grey marble bashfully. "Oh right," she duly noted, playing with one of the eggs like an awkwardly reproached child. "So?" she started again with a mischievous spark in her voice.

Leonardo had just begun blending in the softened butter with the sugar and was slowly building his momentum to make the mixture creamy. "So, what?" His face was slightly apprehensive as he tried to avoid Hazel's doe-eyed, prying gaze.

In the seven months he had known her, he quickly learned that she had a way of getting under his skin with her interrogation tactics, and he, being the way he was, always tried to avoid her questions as best he could.

However, her odd facial expressions bore a challenge for the turtle. They amused him severely, and if he allowed it; she could end up baiting him into giving her the answers she wanted to hear. It would mostly happen out of guilt on his part.

He dreaded the haunting question that she was about to ask.

* * *

_I had this slight romance haunting my computer for a few months now...I felt bad for it and decided to continue working on it and upload it tonight. I may upload the entire thing tonight. It's a small fic. Don't expect too much. It's very light and *yawn* and it definitely doesn't reflect my mood. _


	2. Unexpected Mistake

_Seven Months Earlier: May_

* * *

They had met on one stormy day in early May that very year, when a scuffle with some ninjas turned bloodily sour. The rain had been pouring tremendously all day, drowning out the night, near flooding the streets of lower side New York. Leonardo was with two other members of his clan, Michelangelo and Donatello, searching for one misplaced member of their dynamic quartet - the one called Raphael.

They were trailing the emergency beacon that had been set off by their red-masked brother when he became overwhelmed by a tsunami of ninjas. The three other terrapins located their brother - in spite of the messy torrents - atop a building that was along one of their usual routes. He was bent over, deeply slouched, kneeling in inches of water, surrounded by a black, writhing wall.

Leonardo's stomach lurched at the sight and he launched into the black, mass of moving bodies, with adrenaline fiercely burning through his arms down to the tips of his katana. He was relentless, unstoppable, and a whirlwind of force that couldn't be stopped. He and his brothers tore through the barrier of fighters like an angry twister, and extracted Raphael from the center of the deadly onslaught of Foot members.

"Donatello, get Raph out of here!" He commanded. "We'll hold them off."

Donatello took complete control over his red-masked brother and hurried him off the rooftop, while Leonardo and Michelangelo fought through the remaining deceitful warriors, targeting every weak spot to inflict permanent damage to end a fighter's career. Leonardo opted that way of defense over mortally wounding their foes to avoid the blindness caused by his rage.

There were too many of them, almost more than enough for a fair fight with four terrapins, let alone one. He and his orange-masked sibling were barely holding off the ninjas in the battle when a moment of escape presented itself. During the tussle, the sword-wielding ninjas sliced through a number support beams to a scaffold which held a massive sign above their heads.

The metal screeched in terror, wailing about the weight that tore its bolts free from its body, and leaned over dangerously, threatening to come down. Hearing the cry of strained metal, the Foot scampered away from the structure in fear, expecting the turtles to be crushed by the giant electronic lettering.

"Michelangelo, move!" Leonardo shouted, darting out from beneath the crumpling structure.

Leo saw when the orange-masked turtle jumped over the edge of the building and he followed closely behind. "Keep going!" He ordered, taking the window of opportunity to retreat from the skirmish.

In the wake of their flight and diversion, the bushido warrior was forced to slow down by four persistent ninjas. He took the four down hard and gave his younger sibling free reign to head towards their home safely.

"I'm right behind you, Mike. Keep going," he granted the terrapin a smug grin to show his victory and waved him onwards.

"Well, try to keep up, Slow Leader!" Michelangelo laughed and took off like a cheetah hot on the heels of its targeted kill in the hot Serengeti.

With the threat diminished, the leader pressed on and thought that it would be wise to make one slight digression from the regular route to cut his brother off. As Mikey veered straight ahead and down, Leonardo steered right, and it was in that very decision which he erred.

He had already cleared the first and the second building in his sprint when he smashed through someone's roof that was being repaired. At least he believed that's what it was up until Hazel found him lying among a bed of broken glass panes, broken wooden frames, and manure, all sliced up and bleeding profusely.

According to the brunette, he destroyed her revolutionary project: a top floor apartment with a greenhouse for an attic. _Right_, o_f course._ He remembered saying sarcastically to himself while she explained the situation to him.


	3. Meeting in May

_Seven Months Earlier: May_

* * *

Hazel, a twenty-five year old nurse by profession, was never one for many adventures, but she marveled at the day she discovered a strange being in her greenhouse - regardless of the extensive damages that came along with it.

The very first thought that came to her mind when she heard the loud crash upstairs was that her cousin was a lousy builder. She rushed upstairs, swearing all the way about how much money she had saved just for the unusual project, only for it to be wasted on secondary repairs. In her ascent she ended up at the edge of a pile of ruble and dust beneath a gaping hole in the roof.

_'Never me again and hiring family for help. They're so – so…'_ She grumbled, briskly fanning at the disturbed dust, and as she was about to finish the sentence she heard a cough. Startled by the sound, she quickly covered her satin nightgown with her robe, and swept the flashlight beam over the area; immediately backpedaling from danger.

The light bounced off a large, brown, dome-like object with dirty green limbs and the sight of it frightened a screech out of her throat. She kept the light on the massive thing and in her fearful flight; she tumbled backwards into a stack of dirt.

There was another cough and with that Hazel screamed some more, struggling to run from the scene. '_There's an… alien in my greenhouse! I'm losing my mind!'_ she gasped, clutching at her robe. When her feet found the staircase, a hoarse voice called out.

"Wait, please -"

She started. "_Wait_? Hell no," she shook her head defiantly, trembling as she made her decent on the stairs. Distressed by the sight, she muttered loudly to herself. "This can't be happening! There are no such things as aliens! Get a hold of yourself, woman. Obviously it's some burglar dressed up like some freakish monster."

"No," the mutant called again a bit more forcefully, "I mean you no harm. Please, do not call the authorities," he begged, shuffling around the debris in an attempt to rise up. With the motion there was a loud crack and the turtle collapsed with a groan on the debris.

At the sound, she swiftly stole a backward glance, missed the next step with her foot, and ended up on her butt at the bottom of the staircase with the flashlight scattered into various bits and pieces around her.

"Ah, shit!" She froze in that moment, completely paralyzed by the sharp twinge that traveled up her tail bone, and groaned in agony as she scraped herself off the floor. After assessing the extent of her pain and discovering nothing broken, she scrambled for the dismembered flashlight and cursed her cousin for disconnecting the power supply to the power outlets in the attic.

She was fumbling to screw in the batteries when a loud bang came from upstairs. It rattled the ceiling above her head and sent a large plume of dust barreling her way. She recoiled from it, cowering under her arms until the noise and dust settled.

"What now?" She snapped, hacking away at the dust particles that were now prancing around inside of her lungs. "Jeez!" She hurried back up into the former-attic; fearful of finding a now dead costumed man. "Please don't be dead," she prayed, but then she remembered that he was a 'burglar'. "Just be unconscious. Please be unconscious." She crossed her fingers tightly; cautiously making her way back up.


	4. Complicated Situation

_Seven Months Earlier: May_

* * *

Coldness was slowly making its presence known to his body, caressing him limb to limb, numbing the life out of them. The darkness was beginning to swell from within his mind, trying to meld with its cousin in the real world, and he fought to maintain his consciousness.

He tried to get up, but something was way off with one of his arms that he couldn't get it to move properly. His left foot refused to bend under his will, and scores of pointed objects dug into his softer exposed flesh. It made him stop moving at once. _Don't move!_ The Donatello within him shouted. _You'll only make things worse._

He tried to gear his surroundings, but everything was too dark to make out anything so he listened for the frightened woman. She rambled just loud enough for the ninja to hear her as she made her way back down into her apartment, and he heard when she tumbled down the stairs.

_Good_. _That'll keep her occupied until I get out of here,_ he thought darkly, and soon after berated himself for the idea. He huffed – totally annoyed by the situation.

Suddenly, something broke free from above and landed very close to the mutant, missing him by an inch. He sucked in his breath in preparation to drag his injured form out from the volatile area. It was a disaster site and he was at the center of it. In rolling to one side, the pain bore through him like a drill, and the turtle bit his tongue to keep from crying out. He settled for keeping still once more, and gritted his teeth as he reached for his cellphone.

_It's not here!_ Leonardo's mood plunged deeply when he discovered that the device was missing, and he dropped his head down into the foul smelling dirt in despair. _No, no, no!_ He growled inwardly, slipping a little way back into the darkness.

"Please be unconscious, please be out cold," A soft voice murmured repeatedly, drawing nearer and nearer to the turtle. Unknown to the owner, the terrapin had enough consciousness in him to open one eyelid to peep at the approaching woman.

All he saw was a blinding beam of white light, and the carrier was slowly maneuvering through the strewn debris like a newborn foal. _Just great!_ He sighed in exasperation, but the wasted energy made him sink further into the unconscious abyss.


	5. Keeping it Real

Seven Months Earlier: May

* * *

_Thank God!_ Hazel sighed when she found the 'man' unconscious, and squatted down close to examine the extent of his injuries. As she shone the light on him and began tracing his limbs; she saw that one of his ankles was remarkably larger than the other. _Swollen,_ she noted, continuing along with her survey. Tiny shards of glass were embedded into parts of his costume and blood could be seen dripping from the wounds like tiny tendrils.

_That's weird,_ she frowned, puzzled by the lack of staining on the material of the costume. "Maybe it's latex," her fingers itched to touch the material, but with the knowledge and training of a nurse, she refrained from the temptation.

"Damn!" She swore out loud when she saw the top of his acromion protruding awkwardly beneath his suit. Oddly enough, the suit was mostly discolored from the rest of the green around it. "What the heck?" She ducked her head closer to peer at the dislocated shoulder and slipped her fingers into the grooves of the get-up to try to tear it off the man.

"Ugh, this feels so real and ick," she gagged at the life-like feeling. "You spent a lot of cash on this idiotic outfit, didn't you?" She glided her finger along the space between the carapace and what was supposed to be the collar bone, looking for an edge to rip into and her fingernail scraped the soft material there, drawing blood.

Startled by the small amount of trickling blood and the small flinch seen in the skin, she freaked out, flinging the flashlight some ways behind her and jumping out of reach of the creature. "Holy shit!" She cried, jumping up and down, flailing her hands as if they were caught on fire.

"Shit! It's an alien! It's an alien! It's a real, live alien! It can't be an alien," she danced about in one spot as though she had been trapped in a pen there, gasping for air. "Oh my God, it's an alien," she whispered, covering her mouth in shock.

She felt as if her mind detached itself from her body and she lost all control of her motor functions. She couldn't get her brain to settle on one train of intelligent thought and it was as though she was trapped inside of her mind. Her thoughts were caught between paralyzed-with-fear and fleeing-in-fear.

The irony of the situation was that she had no idea how to respond to a crisis like this. Violent vomiting, excessive bleeding, women in labor, compound fractures, gaping holes, exposed brain matter, gunshot wounds – she could handle. _But this!_ _I can barely remember how to breathe! What am I supposed to do with this?_

She poked the turtle's foot with her toe. "Should I call the cops, the F.B.I, the C.I.A? Who? Who the hell do I call?"

"April," the strange being mumbled almost inaudibly and the human's draw dropped to the floor.

"What?"

"My phone…call April -" The turtle finally whispered.

"Apr-ih…" Hazel stuttered at a loss for words, "Who's April?"

No further answers came from the uninvited guest, but silence; dead, stubborn silence.


	6. Uncanny Aid

_Seven Months Earlier: May_

* * *

The nurse turned on the spot confused. _A phone? What phone? Why would an alien need a phone? Damn, I need a flashlight. _The young woman dashed downstairs for another light and remembered to grab her first aid kit before rushing back up.

She rummaged around the turtle until she discovered a battered, hexagonal device. _This must be yours,_ she mused, fiddling around with the buttons on the object.

The screen quickly came to life to her amazement, and it had the format of a regular mobile with English symbols and words. "Wow, this is pretty awesome," she dug into the device's files and found a contacts list. "And look who's first on the list; April O'Neil." She looked down at the sleeping creature and dialed. "What is she; like a super, secret government agent or something?" She asked while waiting for the ring tone.

"_Hey, Leo. What's up?"_ April O'Neil answered at the first ring.

_Boy, she doesn't waste time_, the nurse thought. "Uhm, hi, is this April O'Neil?"

"_Hello?"_ April's tone immediately went to alarm, "_Who is this? Where is Leonardo? What have you done to him?"_ The suddenly hostile woman demanded. _"Where are you keeping him? What do you want with him?" _

"Are you nuts? What are you talking about? I've done nothing!" Hazel replied defensively.

"_Tell me where he is or so help me God I'll find you and tear you from limb to limb!"_

Hazel held the phone away from her ear and hung up on the screaming woman. She decided that it was probably best not to converse with dangerous government agents about their misplaced, unconscious, alien experiment. "Maybe it'll be best if you get out of here on your own, Alien. I really don't want to be arrested for tampering with classified specimens." She shook her head as she spoke to the 'alien'. It wasn't like he could hear her.

_Why the hell am I even helping you?_ She wondered, staring blankly at the mutant turtle. His breathing was dangerously shallow, from what she could decipher, and his shoulder bone looked worse off than before. _Well, you're in a mess._ "Looks like I'll be seeing about you now," she told the sleeping humanoid.

She set the phone down near to the creature and dragged a long plank of ply wood out from her material stock that had miraculously survived the demolition. Laying it down at the side of the creature, she said, "I hope you don't mind me treating you like a human, Mr. Martian, but people are all that I get to work with." Hazel spoke to him without knowing why, and it somehow kept her nerves steady and her mind together.

"Some of this might hurt," she wedged another piece of wood beneath the terrapin like a lever and rolled him off his injured shoulder unto the ply-board. Then she began cleaning and sterilizing the multiple cuts about Leonardo's reptilian skin. "I don't why I'm doing this, but here I am," Hazel intoned grudgingly. "My colleagues back at the hospital always talk about how I need to get out more. They said that I needed an adventure in my life. Who knows?" She stopped for a moment to study the sleeping mutant, "Maybe they were right and the universe sent you to be my adventure? No? You don't think so? I don't think so either."


	7. Waking up to Nonsense

_Seven Months Earlier: May_

* * *

Leonardo remembered floating about in unlimited nothingness; completely weightless and thoughtless for a while until a voice invaded his consciousness and drew his attention towards the origin.

"Don't worry… you won't feel a thing," the female voice whispered, and with the sound of those words; his eyelids flashed open.

Before his mind could process who the speaker was, something heavy pressed down on his plastron and yanked his arm back into its rightful place. The action was so sudden and unexpected, that the mighty warrior flew up wide awake, screaming.

The woman jumped back in surprise, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! It's alright! Don't hit me! I wasn't trying to hurt you!"

She had her hands up in the air, and the light on her forehead blinded the turtle so he couldn't see her clearly. "Who are you?" He glared at the woman, rubbing at the sore shoulder. The events of the night lazily crept back to him as the throbbing ache in his arm gradually subsided and he came to realize that the human had fixed his arm.

"You fixed my shoulder?" he asked; puzzled by the rare act.

"Yes and the least you could do is say: 'thank you' instead of swinging your arm at my poor, defenseless head." she replied shortly, turning away from him. She squatted down next to a small bag, and retrieved a white cloth from it, which she then shoved into his face as an offering.

Leonardo shied away from the object. "What is that?"

"Sorry, I forgot that you're not from around these parts. I've never done this before, you know. There aren't many aliens running around in this neighborhood. You're the first to come crashing down I suppose. Destroyed my greenhouse project as well," she finished on a sour note.

"Here, I'll show you. It's a sling for your arm," she explained nonchalantly, demonstrating how to put it on. "See? Now you try," she offered the sling back to him.

Leonardo tilted his head to the side, amazed by the woman's discontinuous disposition.

"Thank you," he took the sling from the woman and slipped it over his head, while taking note of the bandage on his ankle and the ones covering the rest of his body. She did a complete patch job on him.

"You're welcome. It's the least I could do for a lost visitor. Welcome to planet Earth," the young nurse gave him a nervous smile and her features showed a wide range of mixed emotions. She looked like an extremely timid puppy that was trying to figure out if it should trust a very large, frightening person.

"I beg your pardon?" Leonardo's hairless brows rose up in surprise. _Welcome to planet Earth? She thinks I'm an alien?_

"Oh, I'm Hazel McIntyre, by the way. I believe your friends call you Leonardo? "

"How do you know my name?" His defenses immediately went up like scaly hackles on the back of a dragon, warning against the enemy. Was she working for one of their enemies? The idea seemed logical to him since his name was known by most of their foes.

"I-uh- called your agent like you told me to; that grumpy woman. O'Neil was it? She threatened me," the nurse folded her arms and frowned. She looked disturbed by the mention of the phone call. "You'd think she'd be more helpful in a situation like this instead of jumping down my throat like I'm sort of criminal."

Leonardo paused in thought, trying to understand everything the female had told him. "Oh – kay then," he raised an eye ridge at her in uncertainty. "I apologize for that and I'm also sorry for trying to attack you. I wasn't expecting that…"

"It's alright, I guess," she shrugged lightly.

"If you don't mind me asking; where's my phone?"

"I left your phone right over there by your leg," she directed the light on the phone for him to see and he reclaimed his lost cell. "That's the weirdest device I've ever seen. Don't get me wrong, it's weird, but in a good way." She smiled genuinely.


	8. Fainting

_Seven Months Earlier: May_

_Yes, we're still in May_.

* * *

_And you're weird too, but also in a good way._ Leonardo smirked, switching on the tracer in his phone. He was certain that April had alerted Donatello about the strange caller and they were probably already on their way, but he activated the emergency call anyway. He studied Hazel as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, contemplating what she should do next.

He was completely relieved and thankful that she was only a scared, harmless woman who chose to call April instead of the authorities. Although, he couldn't remember mentioning the red head's name at all. He must have automatically said her name in his fit because he feared the thought of other humans discovering the existence of his entire family. If they caught him, then he'd be the only one they'd ever find. Not that his family would have left it that way.

Hazel stumbled through the mess, foraging in the room, inspecting her broken stuff. She stopped near the farthest wall and gazed up at the night sky overhead. The moon had just peaked out from behind passing storm clouds, and rained light down on the woman's head. "Hmm," she placed a finger on her lips, pondering. "Now what am I supposed to do about this big hole in my…ah…it's not even a hole anymore. It's more like a roofless greenhouse."

Leonardo looked up at the damage he'd done and sighed, "I'm terribly sorry about that."

She sighed forlornly, "Oh, don't worry about it. My cousin will figure out a way to fix it… I hope."

Leonardo sympathized with downhearted the woman and began mulling over different ways in which he could assist her with the repairs for the greenhouse – with Splinter's permission of course. It was his mistake after all. He punished himself for not being fully aware of his surroundings when he launched over that building. Maybe he could help with the repairs for two nights per week; free of charge.

"I am deeply sorry for the damages, Miss McIntyre. I will try to help you with the repairs. I swear on my honor," he bowed his head sincerely. "Thank you for all of your help," the terrapin added just after his phone came alive, beeping with messages. His brothers were nearby.

She looked back at him and nodded in acknowledgment, "No problem, Spaceman," she said, giving him a small smile before she collapsed onto the floor like a deflated doll.

Leonardo jerked to rush to her aid, but stopped when his physical state quickly reminded him to slow down. It fired up his nerve endings like a roast on a grill, and pushed him into a moment of pause to bear the brunt of the pain.


	9. Family

_Seven Months Earlier: May_

* * *

As Leonardo tried to move again - more slowly this time - a familiar voice shouted out to him from above.

"Hey, Leo! Who's your lady friend?" Michelangelo was hanging upside down from a rope coming down into the greenhouse.

"You didn't have to shoot her with a dart, you know," the blue-masked leader returned.

"Why not?" Donatello asked as he climbed down from the edge of the damaged roof. "She would have fainted if she had seen us anyway. I made it easier for her. No, easier for us. See, no screaming."

"She didn't faint when she saw me," Leonardo replied.

"Yeah, but I'm sure she's suffering from information overload or delayed shock," Donatello smirked, checking over the human. "She'll be alright. What about you, anything broken?" His inquisitive eyes locked eyes on the injured turtle.

"Dude, what happened to you?" The orange-masked turtle whistled when he saw the amount of bandages covering his katana-carrying brother. "One minute you were right behind me and the next thing I knew you weren't there! I thought the Foot had captured you or something. They sure did a number on you."

"I'm fine, Donatello. And no, Michelangelo, the Foot did not capture me or anything like that. I fell through the roof of this - this _greenhouse_. Why didn't you try tracking me on my cell?" Leonardo asked. "How is Raphael doing? Is he going to be alright? I think you should move her out of this place. It's unstable. "

Donatello sighed, rolling his eyes. "Raph's fine. He just got a couple of bruises here and there; mostly on his pride. He took on a lot of hits, but nothing to cause serious harm; thanks to his carapace. He'll be up and running and ready to growl at us in no time." He carefully picked up the fallen human in his arms and turned to his brother, "Hey, where should I put her, on the couch?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I think it should be somewhere down there," Leo nodded at the stairway leading down into the main apartment.

"Right," Donatello turned around and headed for the stairs while the free-spirited terrapin took up the task of guiding their stoic leader towards the exit.

"We tried to track you, but the signal was so weak that we had problems pinning down your exact location," Michelangelo explained. "Well, that was until April received the call from your shell-cell. She told Donatello that some woman was holding you hostage and how she didn't think it was Karai," the turtle snickered. "April can be so paranoid at times. You tried to cut me off didn't you? That's why you ended up all the way over here, uh? You're such a cheat for a leader."

Leonardo shook his head, chuckling. "Just take me home."

"Don't worry, Dude. We'll have you back at the lair in no time. You seriously need a bath since like yesterday, man. You smell like shit," Mikey wrinkled his face.

"Thanks for your concern, Mikey."

"So what's her name?"

"Whose name?"

"Your lady friend there," the orange-masked turtle tipped his head in the direction of where Donatello went, and wiggled his eyebrow ridges.

"Oh, her name is Hazel McIntyre."

"Hazel…hmmm," he played with the word on his tongue first before continuing. "Cool name. What does she do?"

Leonardo groaned, "Michelangelo, I don't know. It wasn't exactly a coffee shop meeting. I crashed through her roof!"

"Seriously, Bro, you just got to spend a few hours alone with a chic and you didn't even bother to find out where she works? What about her age? Is she married? Does she have any kids? Does she have a boyfriend? So many questions you could have asked. You're so boring. So what did you two talk about then?"

"She's a nurse, Mikey," the purple-masked ninja returned from down below and came to stand at Mikey's left side. "She's not married; never was and she has no kids. I'm guessing she's in her mid-twenties," Donatello winked at his younger brother before snatching up his bag and pulling out the keys to the battle-shell.

Michelangelo and Leonardo stared at the genius with frowns of disapproval slowly crossing Leo's face.

"Relax, Leo. It's called deductive reasoning. She's not wearing a wedding band or any engagement ring. There aren't any marks on her finger to suggest that she took it off either. There aren't any pictures of kids in her apartment or toys, just some framed photos of her and her parents which may indicate that she's an only child. They seem very well off, judging from the grand house in the background of some of the pictures. Oh, and I saw her hospital I.D. badge and a security pass on the coffee table. Don't look at me like that."

"Donatello, did I ever tell you that you're awesome?" Michelangelo said proudly.

"You guys make me wonder where I went wrong sometimes," Leonardo shook his head.

"No horrors, Mom. You did a wonderful job raising us," Donatello patted Leo's head, smirking. "Let's get you home and cleaned up. Okay?"


	10. Reality Check

_Seven Months Earlier: May_

* * *

The next morning, the young McIntyre woke up to the sound of her alarm blaring away, and discovered that she was on the sectional in her living room with the soul of the yellow sunlight, streaming through the windows. She sat up slowly, searching through the apartment for any signs of life, but there was none to be seen.

_That's weird. I thought I was… I must have fallen asleep in front of the television last night,_ she groaned. _I must have been dreaming about something on the TV, _she thought sadly, remembering the encounter with the alien in her greenhouse. _So much for my adventure!_ She shrugged the memory off and glanced at the clock on the wall. _Crap! I'm late for work. _She grumbled, rushing off to get dressed for a hectic workday.

She had forgotten about the greenhouse project for the entire day, that is, until her cousin returned to finish his work later in the evening.

...

"_What happened here? This is a disaster! Was there a storm around here?" Nigel all but screeched. He placed his hands on his head and gawked at the demolished room. The air stank of wet earth and manure, and the wood was soaked beneath the rubble. _

_"Hazel?"_

_"Uh?" The twenty-five year old stared in awe at the room. "Everything happened for real..." She walked to the center of the room, hopping over wooden pieces and crushing glass beneath her feet. _

_"What happened for real?" Her cousin asked, following her steps through the misshapen maze. "Were you here last night? Did you see how this happen? Who did this?" The man inquired, tugging at his dazed cousin's sleeve. Her behavior made him nervous so he grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around to face him. "Hazel, tell me what happened here last night? Who did this?" he demanded harshly. _

_Hazel flinched under his grasp and gathered her senses. "I don't know. There was the rain and I heard a loud bang. That's all! I thought I was dreaming," she lied. "Stop shaking me."_

_Nigel released her immediately and began rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm sorry. I didn't expect something like this to happen to your place."_

_"Me neither," she sighed softly, "I'm really sorry about all the hard work you put into it. It's completely ruined now, isn't it?" _

_"Yeah, you'll have to start over from scratch, Cuz," he answered, kicking aside a sheet of ply board. _

_She noted his use of the word 'you' instead of 'we' and took the hint. "Okay."_

_"In the meantime I'll put a temporary cover overhead to provide some protection for your floors and the rest of the stuff that could still be salvaged. Just call me next time if you hear a loud bang, okay?" _

_"Okay."_

_"Promise me?" He looked down at her and pointed his index finger at her nose as if she was a naughty student who wouldn't listen._

_She brushed his hand away and scoffed, "I promise."_

_"Are you sure you don't know what happened here?" _

_"Nurse's honor," she saluted him with her right hand and smiled innocently. _

_Nigel gave her a skeptical look, but he didn't dwell on the matter any longer afterwards and Hazel spent the rest of her days thinking of the stranger. _


	11. The Deal

_Six Months Earlier: June_

_Longest Chapter. :( *sad face*  
_

* * *

Six long, exhausting weeks had passed since the young nurse had seen the strange being in her attic and she certainly believed that she would never see the extraterrestrial again. The chasm of time made certain to erase all the thoughts of another encounter from her conscience.

The woman had ultimately stopped referring to the space as a greenhouse since her cousin freaked out over the damages and told her to give up the idea. It was ridiculous to try a renovation like that in the very beginning. Now she was standing in the same space, cleared of all the debris, staring at the floor in search for a new plan for it.

"Hello."

A voice behind her made her jump out of her skin and she screamed.

"Please don't scream."

She whipped around to see a large figure standing before her. He was at her level height and slightly stocky in built from the defined muscles in his arms and legs. Dark round eyes peered back at her through small slits in the blue mask which was wrapped about his head, and she leaned away from them.

"You!" she pronounced, futilely searching for more words in her mind.

"Yes, me," Leonardo bowed, making the woman step away from him in fear. "I am Leonardo, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," the woman spoke cautiously. "You - you came back?" She moved sideways and began treading a small circle around the mysterious creature, observing him from his head all the way down to his toes. He in turn, rotated to keep his eyes locked on hers and stayed on point at the center of their revolution, therefore, he was like the slow, spinning earth and she was like the hovering moon.

"Why?" Her perfectly shaped brows furrowed; bewildered by him.

Leonardo offered her a gentle smile, "Because I promised to assist you with the repairs to your greenhouse, since it was my fault it got destroyed. I swore on my honor. You do remember that, don't you?"

Hazel laughed nervously and shooed the turtle away, "You've got to be kidding me. This is a joke, right? I'm still asleep, right?" Her skepticism made its stand, refusing to let her believe that the alien had returned with an offer to help her.

The ninja frowned, shaking his head, "No, you're not dreaming, and I'm not kidding either," he stated solemnly.

Hazel kept her orbital pace, watching him closely. She was shocked to see him standing so tall and proud after only seeing him in the dark; all bruised and bloody. After all, this was the first time she was seeing him in full lighting. He was short for a male, but his stature reminded her of a hardened soldier, yet with a more graceful air. Almost like a regal prince from the past, only with something more - something exotic about his behavior.

_Well, duh, Hazel. He's an alien with a huge tortoise shell._ She told herself.

"Okay. So where are you from?" She asked.

The turtle shuffled on his feet a little, "Oh, about that… I'm not an alien if that's what you're wondering." He snorted lightly, studying her reaction.

_You're overly controlled too._ She thought.

"So then what are you?" She went on, "Some evolutionary turtle our government's been hiding; locked up somewhere from society?"

The blue-masked ninja had to stifle back a laugh as the female speared him with a pensive gaze. She was quite serious about her question and she expected the answers immediately.

"No, nothing like that," he said. "I'm actually a mutant. Born a turtle, got mixed up with some bad chemicals and grew up into this," he gestured with his hands.

"Hmm, I see…" Hazel looked disappointed by his tale and she chose not to carry on with her investigation. "So you're here to help me with my greenhouse, right?" She switched the conversation back to the turtle's primary business and began walking away from him.

"Yes," he replied in uncertainty; baffled by her dismissive action.

"Do you have any knowledge of masonry or carpentry tools or greenhouse planning?"

"Uhm, I think so…"

"Good," she turned her head back to smile at the terrapin. "Come on then," she beckoned him to follow her. "If you're gonna help me with this project we'll have to discuss my plans over coffee. You do drink coffee don't you?"

"No," Leonardo hesitated with his response. He was looking around for another way to execute the deal he'd struck with the human. He didn't plan for her to invite him fully into her house for coffee. He had planned to visit the apartment, after she had agreed to his offer of course, and pick up the tools to start the job. He decided on nothing more, nothing less and definitely not coffee.

"No? You don't like coffee. How sad!" The woman scrunched up her face into a funny pout and stopped at the top of the stairway. "What about tea or hot chocolate? Would you drink that? You're the one who swore on your honor, Leonardo, and you can't help with the repairs unless you look at my drawings. So what it'll be?" She placed her hands on her hips and tapped her foot, waiting expectantly.

The Bushido warrior lowered his head and sighed heavily, "I'd love to join you for tea, Miss McIntyre," he said in defeat, and with that he followed her down into the apartment.

Since then, Hazel had spent a great deal of nights working with the turtle on her greenhouse project. Their conversations evolved to playful banter and she learned a great deal more about the turtle's personality and beliefs rather than his life at home. He on the other hand knew almost every single thing about her.

She discovered that her so-called alien was very reserved. He was also very strict about ninjutsu training and Bushido teachings, and some other Japanese terms she couldn't comprehend.

She also learned that he was over-protective of his family and friends to the point where she felt that he didn't trust her where his family was concerned. He never revealed where they lived or how they survived so many years in New York unheard of. He was polite to a flaw, patient, kind and he had a sense of humor which was worth digging out of his soul.

She enjoyed the time they spent together and would often find herself counting down the days of his absence until he returned.


	12. Teasers

_Present Day: November_

_A teaser for you and a teaser for me. _

* * *

"You're zoning out on me," the young woman snapped her fingers in front of his face to get his attention back. "Hello, are you there?" she sang playfully.

"I'm still here," he replied automatically as he snatched up an egg and swiftly tapped it on the bowl to deposit its gooey contents into the mix. "Hazel -" He started to plead with her, but she continued anyway, cutting him off.

"Oh, don't _Hazel_ me, Leo," she sat upright and tried to stop his hand from going for the other egg, but missed it. "When am I going to meet this gracious dad of yours?" She dropped the bomb the protective turtle dreaded. "_And_ what about the rest of your family; when am I gonna meet them?" Her stare was piercing and her lips curved slightly upward in cheerful expectation.

She was playing pushy, but she wasn't about to cross boundaries with the warrior. If he decided that it wouldn't happen, then it wouldn't, but she enjoyed tugging at his mask tail-ends.

Leonardo's thoughts traveled back in time to a conversation he had with his sensei about her. A discussion about an important decision he had to make and what it will mean for them in the future. He was sure that he was ready to say all that he'd planned to say to her on this day, but she made it impossible with her impromptu plans for strange activities, like baking for example.

"Hazel, I know that it's been three months since you…well, since we," Leonardo fumbled for words as he skillfully folded the final egg into the batter. "You know," he shrugged self-consciously.

The woman cocked her head impishly, "Since we what? Since I confessed that I actually like you - like you despite your big shell and all? Or three months since you reciprocated the gesture?"

The turtle rolled his eyes at the female, "Yes, that." He sounded annoyed - as if he wanted the conversation to end at that very instance.

"Geez, you're like a little school boy. We haven't even kissed yet and you act as if I had already given you the _cooties_." She wiggled her fingers and sang the word ghoulishly.

"I'm sorry, it's just that -"

"Just that what?" she interrupted him. "You don't want to kiss me? Is that it?

"No!" Leonardo cried out in protest, almost dropping the mixture. He caught it in time to regain his flawless composure. "I mean I want to – it's just that I -" _No, that's not what I wanted to say,_ the ninja fumed over the lack of control he had over his mouth.

"Then kiss me," she demanded, pulling the mixing bowl away from the turtle. The motion sent him off balance and he slammed his hand down on the counter to keep from tripping. The resulting effect was flattened eggs on the counter-top.

"Now look at what you made me do," he lifted his hands up from the mess, grimacing at the long, slimy strands of egg yolk between his fingers.

"That isn't exactly what I wanted you to do, Leonardo," the nurse clicked her tongue at him and shook her head as she wrapped his hands up in a dishcloth. "Serves you right for laughing at me earlier," she looked at him pointedly and began scrubbing at his hands.

The ninjutsu warrior smiled at the woman apologetically, "Yeah, I guess I deserve that."

Hazel laughed, "Awe, I made you clumsy and now you're pouting."

"I do not pout," he replied obstinately, rinsing his hands in the kitchen sink.

"I know," she smiled warmly and patted his shell. "I know."


	13. Decisions

_Three Months Earlier_

* * *

When the blue-masked ninja had entered Master Splinter's room, his senses were enveloped by the soothing aroma of burning incense, and he went directly to kneel before his sensei at the center of the hazy room. He felt his pulse racing through the veins in his temple; unable to catch up with the rest of his body which had finally come to a stop after running all the way from the apartment.

Kneeling before Splinter, he gazed at his father's zen-like figure, sitting so peacefully among the candles. He was relieved to find the master ready to entertain his questions since his mind was plagued with conflicting thoughts. _What should I do?_ Those words replayed in his head, haunting his beating heart. In spite of all he maintained a calm exterior in the presence of his father to conceal the turmoil within his soul.

"My son," Splinter addressed him, "What is the matter?"

"_Otōsan_," Leonardo exhaled, surprised by the breath he was holding, "Sensei, we have a problem."

Splinter's ears flicked in trepidation and he laid a hand on his son's shoulder. "Tell me, son, what is wrong? Who is this; we?"

Leonardo lowered his eyes as if he was ashamed and then he looked up at his father with desperation in his darkened eyes, "It's Hazel…"

Splinter's whiskers twitched at the sound of the familiar name. "Miss McIntyre? What has happened, Leonardo? Is the young woman hurt?"

"No, she's fine," the turtle corrected.

"No?" Splinter's brows rose questionably, "Then what is the problem?"

"She -" Leo hesitated, watching his father carefully so that he would be prepared for the rat's reaction to what he was about to hear. "I think she's in love with me," he confessed, ducking his head down, expecting fireworks from his master.

The sensei's nose twitched slightly, as he suppressed the laugh that wanted to gurgle out from his throat. "And how do you know of this?" he asked, removing his hand from the terrapin to stand up.

"Because she said so," the ninja answered quickly. "She told me that she was falling in love with me."

"I see," the master stroked his goatee thoughtfully, walking silently around his bowed student. He stopped behind his son and shook his head, smiling; amused by the young mutant's reaction, but he also did not want the turtle to think that his own father was laughing at him. The ninja was clearly distressed by this new development with his friend. "But I still do not know what the problem is," he said to him.

Leonardo turned around to gaze at his master in disbelief, "That is the problem, Sensei."

Splinter blinked at the level of his exasperation and chuckled, "What; that she is in love with you and you do not feel the same way towards her?"

"No… I do care about her - a lot," the turtle's eyes returned to the floor, darting to and fro as he searched for an answer. "Probably more than I know," he said cautiously, "but I never expected this. I never expected her to fall in love with me. I didn't want this to happen. Especially not for her," he protested. "I should have stopped going over there a long time ago. I should have stopped right when we had finished the greenhouse."

"Why?"

"Why?" Leonardo rocked back on his heels and dropped his shoulders, sighing. "Because I'm putting her at risk, Sensei, every minute I spend over there I'm putting her at more and more risk. Now this…"

Splinter inhaled and straightened his demeanor when he sensed the tension in his son's body and he realized that Leonardo had been hoarding around a larger weight on his shoulders than he had originally let on.

"I do understand your concern for her safety, Leonardo. She is your friend, but I also know that you are not telling me everything."

The ninja looked up sadly, locked eyes with his father and said, "I'm so sorry, Sensei. I was supposed to be vigilant, restrained and disciplined, but I failed. I failed to put her safety above all else. I fell for her, Sensei… I fell for her and I thought that nothing would come of it. I never told her how I felt.

"I mean, she's a human after all and I'm a mutant turtle. We're entirely worlds apart. I don't belong up there just as much as she doesn't belong down here with us. I didn't want to expose her to our world, Sensei. It's too dangerous. We've all seen what April had to go through, right?"

"Yes we have, and I am sure that if one of us were able to change time; we would have spared Miss O'Neil the hardships that came along with bearing our secret. However, she would not have wanted that since it would mean losing people she cared about deeply. " Splinter returned to his seat and folded his arms as he listened to Leonardo expose his heart for all to see. "Now I know where your distress is coming from. You do not wish the same fate for the young woman your heart has taken to, correct?"

"Exactly," the warrior tightened his fist, clenching his teeth, "but I was so stupid. I just had to see her. I figured if we remained friends then it would make things easier for me. I wanted to be there so badly – just to see her, but I was too blind to see how much danger I was putting her in and now things have gotten worse. It's even more complicated than before."

The rat nodded in acknowledgement.

"Father, what should I do? Hurting her is the last thing I want to do."

"I cannot tell you what to do, my son. I am no expert in relationships. However, the only words of advice I can offer to you; is to do whatever your heart tells you, Leonardo." Splinter gave the turtle's shoulder a firm squeeze and then rubbed his paw over his bald head affectionately. "I trust that you will make the right decision for both yourself and Miss McIntyre."

Disappointed by the wise rodent's words; the turtle shut his eyes and bit back at the sigh that was forming inside of his throat. He did not expect Splinter to leave the decision on his onus. No. Instead, he was expecting to hear some kind of authorial decision from the strict ninjutsu master about staying away from humans. Unfortunately, the mutant had to face the fact that they were decades beyond that stage, and Splinter trusted them enough to make their own choices in life.

He had to confront the reality of it all whether he liked it or not.

"_Hai_, Sensei," he bowed solemnly; not wanting to appear ungrateful before his master. "I will try."

"Do not be so disenchanted, my son. You will make the right decision. I am certain," Splinter patted him on the shoulder once more for measure.

"_Otōsan, arigatōgozaimashita_," Leonardo bowed again and left the room as soon as Splinter excused him. He did not feel better. _What should I do?_

* * *

_Otōsan__ - Father _


	14. The Backup

_I have resumed uploading. ;) Once again I own nothing._

_Three Months Earlier: Following 'Decisions'_

* * *

Leonardo gently slid the doors to Splinter's room closed behind him and then he trudged silently towards the living room where he dropped himself on the couch; careful not to let the burdening thoughts of his mind weigh his body down. He was certain that he barely disturbed the preoccupied Michelangelo that was perched at the edge of the seat, murderously stabbing away at the game control, but the younger turtle – as the ninja he was - sensed the elder's presence and quickly stole a glance in his direction.

"Dude, you've got that look on your face again," he stated; blue eyes steely riveted to the television screen.

"What look?" Leonardo craned his neck to look at his brother, whose observation had surprised him.

"You know that look you get when you go to Splinter for advice and he doesn't give you the answers you were looking for?" Mikey replied nonchalantly; still deeply engrossed in his game. "You've got _that_ look on your face."

The blue-masked turtle stared at his brother for a moment, wondering what it would have been like to have normal siblings who weren't so discerning and shook his head. "I do not have a look on my face, Michelangelo," he told him as a matter of fact and leaned back into the couch to keep from showing his growing irritation.

Suddenly, Mikey hit pause on his game and the lair went noiselessly dead. He dropped the control on the seat beside him and turned to study Leonardo directly in the face. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" Michelangelo pressed, raising his eyebrow ridge a smidge higher.

"Yes, I' m sure," Leonardo glared at the orange-masked turtle to warn him to back down, but the terrapin smirked in return, clearly unfazed by the leader's threat.

"Is it about your girlfriend?" The younger terrapin asked, quickly asserting the point he wanted to get to.

Leonardo sighed inwardly for failing to remember this was Michelangelo he was talking to. Mikey had the uncanny ability to call a bluff in his threats when he saw one and he was the least likely to be intimidated by his authority. Michelangelo also knew him well enough to know when he could push his limits to break through his wall of fortitude. This, Leonardo knew, was what his brother was about to do.

Leo folded his arms and shot his sibling a humorless look. "Funny, I don't recall ever telling you that I was in a relationship."

"Bro, you didn't have to," Mikey laughed, patting his shoulder. "I've got a sixth – no – a seventh sense when it comes to love," he boasted proudly, pretending to neaten the imaginary hair on his head.

Leonardo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yeah well I think you need to work on that seventh sense of yours, Mikey, because I think it's broken." Then he felt an all too familiar presence behind him. He exhaled loudly to dispel his annoyance and turned around to see his red-masked brother standing over him with a ridiculous smirk on his face.

"She dumped ya, didn't she?" Raphael asked; unable to pass up the opportunity of joining Mikey in his teasing.

Leonardo scowled at the brazen turtle as he hopped over the back of the sofa, forcing his girth between him and Mikey to join them on the couch. The motion jostled the springs; mostly pushing their seat back by an inch.

"Dude!" Mikey protested, shoving Raph's shell away from him as he scooted around to make room for the intruding terrapin. "There's no room for you! You're as big as a hippo. Get off!"

Raphael turned briefly to jab Michelangelo in the side sharply with his elbow, which caused the youngest turtle to wheeze and clutch his side.

"Now that _he's_ quiet," the red-masked turtle pointed over his shoulder with his thumb and fixated his amber eyes on the eldest ninja. "Are you going to tell us about your break-up?" Raphael's face would have looked completely sincere if he hadn't opened his eyes as wide as a teenaged girl getting her latest fix of gossip, and had his eye ridges high enough to wrinkle his entire forehead.

The slight twitch presenting itself at both corners of his brother's mouth told Leonardo that his sibling was just a mere fraction away from bursting into hysterics, and Leonardo knew that he would only have to say one word to make it happen. Michelangelo desperately tried to keep his deadly gaze locked onto the red-masked mutant however; he was also having trouble ignoring Raph's gibes that were being spilled out. They were both cracking into pieces on the inside at the expense of their leader.

"Tell us what happened," Michelangelo persuaded. "We're here for ya, Bro."

From past experience with his brothers, especially with their knowledge of the _greenhouse_ arrangement, Leonardo had been the butt of all their romantic conspiracies and insinuations since the very beginning. Even Donatello had tried to test his patience a couple of times, and victoriously, the blue-masked ninja had yet to yield to their taunts. He knew that _any_ response on his part would spawn a thousand more theories about his slowly, fading, platonic relationship with the twenty-five year old. In spite of his awareness of the dangers of answering these two; the bushido warrior's frame of mind disregarded it.


	15. Blunt Interventions

_Three Months Earlier: Still_

* * *

"Shut it down, guys. You both know it's not like that," Leonardo clenched his teeth and the two younger brothers frowned when they heard the grimness in his voice.

"I knew it!" Raphael announced loudly, sniggering all the same. "The girl dumped you!"

"Whoa," Donatello, who happened to be passing by, slowed down in his tracks and started walking towards the trio. "Let me guess; we're talking about Hazel?"

Leonardo groaned, "Not you too, Don."

"I think she dumped him, but he won't say why," Raphael interjected with a wink at his older brother.

"Is that so?" Donatello grinned, turning to the leader for an explanation.

"No," the orange-masked turtle said thoughtfully as he shook his head, "I think it's more than that."

"Oh, really?" Leonardo challenged. He was dangerously close to lunging at his siblings for making up jokes about him.

"Yes, he's absolutely right."

It was Donatello who answered and the blue-masked turtle's scowl suddenly returned.

"Listen, Leo," the genius turtle took on a serious tone, "All fun and jokes aside; we all know how much this girl means to you. I mean even though you don't show it; we can tell. We know you well enough to see when you're down, when you're happy and when you're troubled - and for the past couple of months you've been walking around here - "

"Like a torn-up, conflicted – _mhnpfht_."

"Don't interrupt the adults, Mike," Raphael muffled the orange-masked ninja's mouth, "What Donny's trying to say is; we're practically like twins, Leo - as much as it pains me to say it," he paused when Donatello and Michelangelo cleared their throats, "Er – a quadruplet, so we've got this extra sense to know when something's not right with a member of our clan - "

"That's ridiculous, Raph," Leo cut his brother off from saying anything more. "Just say that I can't hide anything from you three just as you can't hide anything from me, okay?"

"Heh, okay," the red-masked mutant chortled. "You can't hide nothing from us, Leo. Not anymore anyway."

"And as I was saying before I was _rudely_ interrupted," Donatello eyed the youngest member of their family before returning his gaze to the eldest, "Leo, we all know that you've been trying your best to deny your feelings for the woman; we can feel it, and we all know why. It's because you're afraid of what could happen to her if she became part of your world – our lives. You believe that you'll be putting her in harm's way if you revealed to her how you felt about her and if she decided that she wanted to pursue a relationship with you.

"You're scared of what that could mean. You're afraid that she could possibly become a target for one of our enemies, just like some of our other friends have; and we get that. You don't want to see her hurt because of you or us, and you don't think that you could bear the thought of that ever happening. You're too afraid to go with your heart and I don't blame you. We get why you're so conflicted and we sort of agree with you on that," Donny paused to study Leo.

Leonardo swallowed as he watched his brothers before him. All three faces were severe if not flawed with deep concern for him. They knew him; they saw him and they understood everything he was going through; much more than he had ever imagined. They were his brothers; true in heart and soul, if not blood. For the moment he was glad for that, but it still didn't help his situation or solve his problem.

"But," Don continued.

"But what?" the leader asked.

"But what you're doing; what you've been doing for the last couple of months, whether there's a relationship or not, she's still at risk. You've already put her life at risk, Leo, so your concern about having a relationship with her now has absolutely nothing to do with her safety. It's too late for that. Any Foot spy could have seen you going over there at any time," the ninja's gaze was hard and unwavering, making the leader regret entertaining this audience.

Leo's eyes narrowed in anger, "I know that."

"Of course you know," Donatello agreed. "But why continue to punish yourself, Leo? Obviously Hazel won't be in any more danger than she already is if you went up there and told her that you actually lo... like her," the purple-masked turtle smiled.

"_Love_ her," Mikey corrected, playfully nudging Raph in the side.

"You need to suck it up, Fearless. Either you tell her how you feel and deal with whatever shit happens after that, or stop going over there and pretending like everything's all right. It's not normal. You're not normal anyway. Don's right, you're still putting her in danger so it doesn't really make a difference," Raphael grew silent for a second before he added: "I don't know why you're eating yourself up over this. Just make a decision."

"Yeah, you've been going over there for months now, and so far nothing bad has happened," Michelangelo stated smartly.

"And that's mainly because you've been safe -" Donatello began, but then he ducked his head sheepishly when Raph's and Mike's eyes zoned in on him with evil smiles.

"Safe?" Raphael gave him a mischievous look.

"CAUTIOUS!" Don jumped up, "I meant cautious! Cautious and stealthy like making sure that no one saw you or followed you…" he finished feebly, holding up his hands in the air defensively as Mike and Raph collapsed on the floor guffawing like two drunken fools yelling the word 'safe' repeatedly.

Leonardo glared at him.

"Sorry?" Donatello shrugged sheepishly.

"You will be," Leo promised darkly as he rose from the couch. "I'll be in the dojo; for whoever wants to join me," he said, making sure that he was loud enough to cover Raph's and Mikey's boisterous behavior.

"As always," Donatello returned.

"And thanks, Guys," Leonardo added as he walked out of the living room area.


	16. Surprises

**_A/N_**_: Seeing as this story was drawn up in November 2012, backtracking seven months would have technically placed their meeting in May of that year. _

* * *

_Present Day: November_

* * *

With his face intent on perfection, Leonardo transferred the cake batter into the baking tray and locked it inside of the pre-heated oven, checking over the temperature. He mumbled something to Hazel about the temperature being the just right to prevent the cake from forming a sink at the centre or a mountainous peak at the top and the woman rolled her eyes at him.

"And that affects the taste, how?" Her sarcasm earned her an amused look from the ninja and she laughed in return.

Without a quip, he readjusted the degrees on the oven one last time and then returned to his original seat at the small dining table behind the kitchen bar.

Hazel momentarily observed his quietness as he sat down, and believed that he was possibly content upon completing the task of baking the cake. However, she had detected small hints of hesitation in the turtle from the time he had arrived at the apartment earlier and noted how frequently he stared off into space at various moments, thinking of who knows what.

_This is just too much,_ Hazel thought, frowning at the long periods of silence that passed between them. She made a small sound at the back of her throat to catch his undivided attention and thankfully it worked. "So now we wait?" She asked – just to break the dead interlude.

"Yes…we wait." He raised an eye ridge at her; a crooked smile forming at his lips, "Please don't tell me you wanted to eat the batter without baking it?"

"That way tastes good too," she replied cheekily.

The turtle snorted, "I'm sure it does."

"I'm serious. You can lick the bowl if you want," she offered, smiling. "It'll make it easier on the dishwasher."

"No thanks," he waved her off, chuckling. "If Mikey were here; he'd be more than happy to oblige - him _and_ his tongue."

Hazel made a face at that. "Mikey...right, the one with the mouth as wide as the Amazon River, with enough words to fill it plus the Nile, and an unlimited supply of Uranium energy generated by his bone marrow," She laughed, recalling the way Leonardo had described his presumably youngest brother, saying that he had no other option than to steal those words from another brother named Donatello.

"Yeah, Mikey." He smiled warmly at her.

She had always admired the burning pride in his eyes whenever he spoke of his siblings, and it often made her wonder what it'd be like to have that many siblings. She often found herself entreated to the ridiculously high esteem he had for them, especially their father, and it made her even more curious to see who they were in person.

He had absolutely no idea of how badly his small tales made her want to meet them in real. She wanted to become part of that – to become a deeper part of his world. A part which he kept locked away in a safe entrenched significantly within his abysmal mind. In fact, each time he brushed aside her requests to meet his family as jokes, it infuriated her.

Hazel had long since come to terms with her feelings for him, and by long, it meant roughly three months after working alongside the severe mutant. It took her the best part of an entire month to accept that she had fallen in love with someone who wasn't even human. She admittedly spent thirty days going over how crazy she had gotten, wrestling with ideas in her mind like how it would never work out, how he thought of her just a friend, and how they were different species - sane and reasonable questions; yet crazy thoughts.

Drove her insane - they did - until she confessed, blurting out the truth like a gushing sewer line. She couldn't hide it anymore. It was killing her on the inside and she also thought that it was unfair for her to keep asking him to come over, when she only wanted to pine away over the unsuspecting turtle.

As Hazel's mind did retakes, Leonardo's smile faltered somewhat under the lack of a distraction and his eyes returned to their favorite staring spot on the table top. A faint frown appeared on his forehead as more thoughts poured in.

"Is everything alright, Leo?" she asked softly, proceeding to clear away the mess they had made.

Leonardo didn't answer immediately, but his features contorted a bit before he plastered on a small, reassuring smile. "Yes, everything is fine," he replied carefully, his brows knitting slightly. "What made you ask?"

Hazel slowed her motion down to glance at him. It was impossible for her to believe that he had not notice how distracted he had been around her all evening. She dropped the Kitchen Aid mixer back on the counter and made her way over to the terrapin. "Seriously, you haven't noticed?"

He went silent, looking thoughtful and said, "Yeah, I guess I may have been a little distracted. I'm really sorry. It's just… I have a lot on my mind lately," he sighed, "but…it's nothing to worry about, really. Everything's fine."

Sighing, Hazel slipped into the chair opposite of him and laid her hand on his, caressing his thumb with her own. "Are you sure?" She sought out his eyes for surety. This way, she hoped, would prevent him from lying directly to her face. "I know something's bothering you and I'm worried. You're not usually _this_ quiet or distracted. I -" she stopped herself from saying; 'I want to know what's bothering you,' and settled for; "You can talk to me about what's bothering you if you want."

The ninja simply nodded and said, "Thank you, but I'm fine. I promise."

She should have seen that answer coming. His eyes didn't reveal anything about giving her an honest explanation.

He then removed his hand from beneath hers, laced his fingers under hers, and slowly lifted her hand.

The nurse watched bewildered as he raised her hand closer to his face, and planted a delicate kiss on the back of her hand. The strange gesture made all the hairs on the back of her neck tingle, and her skin bristled when all of her pores suddenly flared to life. Her eye brows rose in surprise.


	17. Letting Go

_Surprise, surprise. It was just sitting there looking so lovely so I had to come back on to post it. ;) _

_Present Day: November_

* * *

"Leo?" Her head tilted to one side as she scanned the turtle's face for some reason behind his action. Why did he do that? Why now? He has never done anything like that before. Why now?

This was not the Leonardo she was accustomed to. Hazel's concern transformed into fear as her brain tried to process what had happened; even more so why it had happened and what was going to happen afterwards.

No form of intimate contact had ever been exchanged between them since their declarations of mutual feelings for one another three months ago. As strange as that may seem, the woman knew that this was a whole new territory for the mutant, and given the additional complexities of his nature and upbringing, he literally had no clue as to how to move forward from there.

Or did he? Hazel had asked once what he had thought about being in a relationship with her and what that would entail, but his response – or reaction to be more specific - was nothing like she had quite expected.

….

_'I'm not sure.' He told her slowly, rising from the couch where they had been watching a movie. 'I can't – Not yet,' his brows furrowed deeply and his words stopped making sense from there. 'We can't - it's just far too d… It's complicated. I have to go,' he said quickly, rushing through an apologetic bow and abruptly leaving the woman alone in her living room, stunned. _

_…._

He did return however, after two long weeks of absence and one day of persuasive bargaining over the phone on Hazel's part. She was adamant about not losing him as a friend. She honestly couldn't stand the notion of it. She had gotten him to agree on, much to her displeasure, remaining just as friends to see where things took them from there on; regardless of how painfully slow the process was.

….

"Did you just…?" She didn't bother to finish the sentence, still mightily shocked from the event.

The terrapin shrugged awkwardly, "Yes."

"Should I know why?" Hazel asked reluctantly, unwilling to believe that he was coming out of his shell. No puns intended.

Humored by her query, the bushido warrior chuckled, "Isn't it obvious?" He stretched his hand forward to flick her across the forehead gently, "You'll get wrinkles of a sixty-year-old before you hit the age of thirty. You should stop worrying so much," he said, passing his thumb over the spot in an attempt to smooth out the lines.

Although none of what he did had hurt her, she flinched and pulled away from the blue-masked ninja, drastically, "If that's how you mutant-turtles try to seduce women; then I must say, as someone who cares for you dearly, that was a major fail."

Leonardo laughed sincerely, "You should have seen the look on your face."

The young nurse mock glared at him for that remark, and as endearing as he was, she wasn't about to abandon the main issue at hand. The ninja still had something on his mind that was eating him through, occasionally appearing on the surface. She recaptured his hands that were still on the table and dragged them closer to her.

"You still haven't told me -" she began and was suddenly cut off by his swift movement.

His hands vanished from within hers and he was standing over the table, already pushing the chair back into its proper place. "I don't mean to be rude," he apologized, reproducing that famous bow attributed to his cultural upbringing, "but I must leave now. It's getting late and I promised Master Splinter that I would help him with something very early tomorrow. I hope you don't mind."

_And here we go again. You're always running off just when we need to talk,_ Hazel frowned at the uneasy turtle. He looked considerably conflicted, and even though he looked regretful of having to leave so hastily, he clearly wanted to avoid the conversation.

She nodded hesitantly, giving in due to the urgency in his eyes, "No, I don't mind. I've been hogging you long enough already."

His body relaxed and she swore she could make out the giant, unheard sigh in his face. "I'm truly sorry for running out on you, Hazel. I wish I could have stayed longer, but…"

"It's okay, I understand. You go ahead," she waved him off. "I'll save the cake for you," she gave him a patient smile, getting to her feet.

"Alright," Leonardo smiled weakly. "I'll see you later this week, okay," he informed her while walking towards the living room with Hazel close on his heels.

"Tomorrow?" She asked mischievously, hoping her tone didn't come off as too anxious or desperate.

The turtle paused in step to glance back at her. They had just entered the living room where the twenty-five-old hadn't bothered to turn the lights on, because one; it saved energy, and two; Leonardo preferred to leave from a room where the lights were off.

So, when she witnessed the flash of sadness in his expression before he quickly covered it up with a smile, she knew that he had assumed that she couldn't see him clearly in the dark. Unfortunately for him, the light that came from the kitchen was enough to highlight some of his characteristic features.

"I'll call to let you know when," he stated basically, turning to exit through the window.

Hazel caught his arm when half of his body was already outside, "Leonardo, hang on for a sec."

Leonardo froze on the spot for a short moment before he decided to pull his leg back inside. "Sure, what is it?" He asked cautiously, watching her with a puzzled and equally concerned visage.

"I just wanted you to know …" she began slowly, coming to a pause when she realized that she was standing directly in the mutant's personal space and her hand was still on his arm. The coolness of his skin radiated through her palm, creating a strange sensation as his skin began warming up to her touch. Surprisingly, he didn't move for the length of time she must have stalled there for that to happen, and she found herself staring into his dark eyes; which were pinned on her in return.

Untold frustrations were profound in them, compact and dense, and the full weight of it came crashing down upon her in a rush. She exhaled sharply when, under the additional strain, her willpower cracked, unleashing a long, abated desire for tension release. The resulting effect was one that was rather satisfying, if not welcomed.

Impulsively she leaned in and captured the turtle full on the mouth with hers – in uttermost disregard for the lack of true to form lips – and delivered a fervent kiss as best she could while Leonardo remained motionless.

Approximately three seconds had elapsed into the kiss with him doing absolutely nothing, or maybe recovering from the initial shock of the _attack, _and then his mouth began moving slightly upon instinct. Sadly, beyond that point, the muscles in his arm went tense within her grasp and the sudden reaction told her to stop.

_There goes my moment, _Hazel sighed grudgingly, pulling away from him.

…_Such an alien._


	18. Seeking Counsel

_Honestly, I do not like writing and having to retype. Takes all of my energy to fight past procrastination and not to get mad when I disregard ninety-five percent of the things I wrote down by hand. Heh. Onward._

_I own nothing._

_And all credit goes to Ray Dillon for this stories' image._

* * *

Hazel's gut instincts roared bitterly in her head as she separated herself from the tense mutant. _How could I have been so blind? It was all there; big and plain to see. _She scolded herself internally. She had sensed it all along; the hesitation, the guilt, the fear, the confusion - all subtle, but present.

Hazel's horror must have shown on her face because the terrapin's expression suddenly changed to worrisome.

She knew that he was withholding something important from her and it was not just the usual stuff like what he really does or where he goes – given the swords he constantly wears on his back, – but the things that really mattered to her, for example; what they meant to one another. So far things seemed to be moving on a slow loop with this _being._

It was no surprise that he kept many secrets hidden from her. Such as the few times he vanished from within her circle for days on end without any calls, messages or explanations, and then later on would reappear at her apartment, sporting some of the nastiest bruises ever seen in an emergency room or partially healed wounds.

"What in heaven's name happened to you?" She would ask and the turtle's response would deflect her questions ruthlessly. He would either distract her by changing the topic smartly or blame his injuries on his sparring practice or flee from the apartment, claiming that there was an emergency at home. This was his routine, and the endless excuses became so annoying that the nurse was forced to give up on seeking certain answers from him.

In fact her surrender was not permanent; just merely delayed and in spite of her gnawing curiosities, she had the patience to wait. It was something ingrained in her from a young age and she also had the ability to draw some truth out of him given a proper span of time.

Her grandfather, once a man of many years and wisdom; now deceased for nearly a decade, had often reminded her that everyone was entitled to their own secrets.

'_If you must know what those secrets are, then you should at least grant them the dignity to reveal them to you on their own accord. It is much better than trying to force it out of them and forsaking your respect for one another in the process. You must always remember to respect their choices, Granddaughter, and in turn you will gain their respect and trust. _

'_Once these are established, you will soon discover that they have grown to be more open with you and may share with you the most intimate and even the darkest secrets of their hearts. You see, my dear, sometimes when you demand answers of others prematurely, you may find yourself in a situation where you are not ready or prepared to handle the answers, and those very said secrets can crush you, Young Soul.' _

It was one of the very last things he said to her before he passed away, and the most memorable.

….

She was fifteen when he died and it was an era in time where she stood at the center of fierce arguments between her parents. The young McIntyre had always found flaws in their arguments because, to her, they were mostly rooted in shallow, pointless issues that reached far beyond any real reasoning behind all of the animosity between the two of them.

Why? The answer was never obvious, but when it finally came, she changed forever and her grandfather's words rang true in her heart. Her mother had recently emerged from one of the frequented spats when Hazel went after her, arguing that she was being completely unfair and irrational with her father.

The teenager had finally had enough of them and their malicious words over trivial things. There were only two ultimatums left for them to take. Either they end their marriage and go separate ways or find a shrink. She thought that it was time for an intervention to be staged, but the divinity of that idea was squashed almost the instant it was borne.

"_Mom, I don't understand why you're being this way!" Hazel quickened her steps as she followed her mother through the kitchen and into the backyard patio where the woman came to a stop at the wooden balustrades. She kept her back rigidly turned to Hazel as she hunched over the banister and clasped her hands tightly over the handrail. _

"_Why won't you talk to me? I'm almost sixteen, you know? Mom, you can talk to me. Please tell me what's going on with you and dad. I think you're being unfair to both of us – especially to me. I have a right to know what's happening between you two, Mom. You have to stop hiding things from me," she pleaded, referring to the times she had accidentally caught her mother crying in the bedroom._

_At those words the woman whirled on her enraged. Eyes blazing red and dark hair wild, the senior McIntyre female screamed at the girl, "What do you want me to tell you, Raven?" She demanded, biting at the rarely used middle name. _

_Hazel blinked; amazed by the sporadic outburst from her mother. The woman had never yelled at her like that before, no matter how capable she was of such behavior towards the only man in their household. She was moved to another ground; one where things were beginning to dissemble around her; for she had never been at the focus of her mother's angry aim. _

"_Mom! Where is this coming from?" _

"_Do you really want to know?" The forty-four year old woman asked sardonically, regaining control over her tone. _

_The fifteen-year-old remained silent, yet she had the courage to nod. _

_Her mother shifted her pose and placed her hands on her hips, cocking one eyebrow at the teenager. "What do you want me to tell you, Child? How many times your father has cheated on me or how many times I have cheated on him in return?" _

The question was hung in the air like a cold statement of mockery on a string of resentment and scorn, and it changed things from then on in their lives; including Hazel.

After that night, Hazel spent most of the years trying to keep as distant as possible from their inglorious existence; which would have worked well if they weren't obsessed with having the image of a perfect family. Surprisingly though, her mother and father stayed together religiously, going through the years with counseling until they increased in age and decreased in quarrels.

…

_Secrets were never to be begged for_, _right?_ Hazel reassessed her grandfather's advice as she slowly widened the space between her and the turtle she fell in love with.

Leonardo was possibly more guarded than Emperor Qin's resting place with his eight thousand terracotta soldiers and the Great Wall of China combined. As it were, things were much more difficult to figure out when it came to what he truly wanted.


	19. Breaking Point

_Present Day: November_

* * *

Leonardo, though a highly skilled ninja and a master of awareness, had been caught off guard by the woman when her warm lips suddenly brushed up against his, trapping them in a – as the romantic novelists would say – passionate kiss, and he froze on the spot, afraid to move; not knowing what to do.

Her lips were moist and unimaginably soft; yet hot in comparison to his, and the heat from her face seemed to radiate through his soul, driving to the core. It was exhilarating. It was as if she unlocked a bottled-up sea of emotions that came flooding up to the surface, permeating through his veins.

His knees almost buckled under the overwhelming relief he felt; the rush of adrenaline, the sliver of freedom, the temptation of abandon and the mighty urge that swelled against him, gradually wearing down his resolve.

He had started to give in, slowly responding to Hazel's gentle guide, but then a particular memory resurrected his fears and he quickly repressed the instinct that was beginning to take over. He stiffened involuntarily and winced when the young nurse sensed the sudden change in him, and pulled free from his space.

He saw when the distinct confusion and disappointment came over her face almost instantly and immediately felt ashamed for being the cause of it. She stood still for a moment staring at him oddly before she cautiously stepped back. Her withdrawal made Leonardo apprehensive and a knot twisted itself inside of his stomach.

"Hazel?" He tried to reach for her arm before she moved too far away from him, but the woman dodged his outstretched hand.

"No. Don't," she said quickly, holding up a hand to stop him. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have done that." She sighed softly; casting dark eyes on the cerulean drapes behind him and then circled her arms about herself. "I crossed the line…"

It couldn't be clearer that she was hurt by the turn of things, and he clenched his fist against the sorrowful regret it provoked within him. The knot in his gut now transformed into a serrated knife.

"Please don't think that," Leonardo took a step forward to close the gap between them, but she moved back some more.

"Hazel, please. I didn't mean to offend you. Believe me; I didn't," He begged, hesitating to carry on as he carefully chose the right words to use. "I am the one to blame; not you. And I -" He stopped when she rolled her eyes and made an exasperated sound. Her gaze turned to the ceiling and he stared at her for a while before realizing that she was not upset over his reaction, but rather over an accumulation of other things.

He breathed outward in resignation, "Okay. Let me start over. I know I haven't been entirely honest with you -" He started, pausing once again when he was interrupted.

"Yes, you're absolutely right," her eyes flashed towards him accusingly, "You haven't been entirely honest with me," she stated crossly, folding her arms and sinking down into the nearest chair. "Sometimes I feel like you don't trust me," she mumbled quietly, turning her head away from him. "You always give me these vague answers and then sometimes you just don't answer at all. It's like you're afraid of something… and you don't want me to know what it is."

She looked at him with searching eyes and then went on, "Or are you afraid of what I'll think if you show me who you truly are? Which is it, Leo?"

Seeing her so bothered, Leonardo sat down next to her and gripped his knees with his hands. He had not expected her to hit the nail on the head as closely as she did tonight and so he decided that there was no more use in holding back.

"Both, actually," he admitted finally, "but there's more to it than that."


	20. Trials of the Past

_Three Weeks Prior:_

_November_

* * *

The sky above them was much too clear for Leonardo's taste on this particular night; since the moon insisted on keeping its enormous, watchful eye over them in their current occupation. He frowned under the brightness of it and contemplated heading for the shadows of the alley below; however, he and his brothers were a bit preoccupied at the moment.

They were somewhere in Lower Manhattan – one of their usual territories – atop of a building that had a pricey view of the Hudson River, and Leonardo had his katana pressed against the throat of a man whom he held pinned up against a wall.

The masked man's jaw suddenly became active when he gnashed his teeth together with determination, and the turtle quickly ripped the mask off his head. The person underneath was a well-aged male whose forehead was wrinkled into a hardened frown with deep crow's feet growing out from the sides of his Asian eyes. His short hair had zero traces of black in it and it glowed like white metal under the moonlight.

"Don't!" Leonardo threatened, pushing the blade of his katana precariously further onto the man's neck.

The man scowled defiantly at the turtle and lowered his chin unto the blade. His jaw moved frantically until it finally came to a stop.

"We're wasting our time with this one," Donatello stated bitterly, casting a dark look at the stubborn Foot ninja. "He's more or less dead to us now," he placed a hand on Leonardo's shoulder as way to get him to ease off.

The blue-masked turtle ignored his brother and removed the blade from the human's throat. "Where is our master?" He barked, yanking the captive forward by his shirt and slamming him back into the wall hard.

The man grunted weakly and a drop of blood trickled past his lips, rolled down his chin and disappeared into the dark material of his clothing. His head lolled forward with one last shuddering breath and Leonardo released his grip to allow the man to drop to the ground with a thud.

_Another dead end_, Leonardo scowled at the corpse for a second in frustration before turning to see where Michelangelo and Raphael had gotten to with their guy. Like him and Donatello, the other two terrapins had intentionally sought out another member of the Foot clan; who had also been on the unfortunate assignment of sentry duty that night.

"He's the third one so far, Leo," Donatello mumbled, deep concern weaving through his voice.

"It's dishonorable," the leader returned emotionlessly, striding directly towards his two remaining siblings.

Donatello's eye ridges furrowed. "It's troubling," he countered.

"The Foot knows nothing of honor," Leo scoffed; not following along with Donatello's argument.

"Cyanide's becoming a new thing among them," the purple masked turtle said – more so to himself rather than to the other – and he tapped his forefinger against his jaw thoughtfully. "Aren't you worried?" He looked over at his older brother.

"About Master Splinter? Yes," Leonardo answered frankly, knowing that his statement would all together end the unwelcomed conversation, and as he predicted, Donatello went silent, no doubt shooting a scowl in his direction.

Leonardo glanced sidelong at his brother out from the corners of his eyes, wondering how he could possibly be worrying about such a secondary detail when they had bigger problems to be concerned over. Master Splinter was missing and he had been missing for approximately twenty-seven hours now – the longest twenty-seven hours the turtle had ever endured.

"If they _are_ using that stuff," the genius started up again, "what's going to stop them from using it on Master Splinter?" He contended; finally voicing his true thoughts on the matter and he also seemed to pose the question just to spite Leonardo for trying to brush him off.

"I won't let it come to that, Don," Leonardo asserted. "We'll get him back. Even if it means I have to die to make sure of it."

The blue-masked ninja tightened his knuckles on the _tsuka_ of his katana; which he hadn't bothered to sheath since the attack, and he felt the burn of desperation trying to consume his spirit. A sort of angry impatience brewing and fighting against his control with each passing turn. He had to find Splinter, and soon, or else it wasn't the lack of sleep or the endless, dead-end searches that was going to defeat him. No, it was his failure to save his own father from falling into the wrong hands and thereby compromising their entire team; their existing clan.

The younger terrapin stopped short and grabbed his sibling's shoulder, "Leo, it wasn't your fault -"

"The Rat King…was supposed to be dead," the leader clenched his teeth. "We saw him die."

"Yes, I know," Donatello began slowly, "but how were you supposed to know that he was still alive and out there? None of us could have known that." He paused to get Leo's acknowledgement.

Leonardo nodded a small; '_I know,'_ and exhaled tiredly. He knew that there was no point in arguing with the bo-staff wielding turtle on this point. They've already had this conversation before, and his mind and feelings on the subject would always be overruled by Donatello's reasoning. His brother was right, but he couldn't get his mind to shake the misdirected guilt that was eating away at him on the inside.

"Right," the purple-masked ninja affirmed, "I mean, how could have we predicted the Rat King's return – of which I'm sure he never actually did die in that explosion – and then to lead Splinter blindly through a maze into the hands of the Foot?"

"We could have prevented it," Leo returned.

"We couldn't stop him, Leo. With the Rat King in control, Master Splinter was just too…powerful."

"Donatello, I get it." Leonardo uttered, picking up on his pace to get to Michelangelo and Raphael, because from where he stood, he could see them getting more riled up than usual with their hostage. _That can't be good._

His purple-masked brother echoed his own thoughts aloud as he matched him for speed, heading for the next pair of ninjutsu fighters.

...

* * *

_A/N: ... ... ... silence ... _


	21. Defining Moments

_Three Weeks Prior:_

_November_

* * *

"Why don't you try chewing on this, uh?"

Raphael, the most tempered out of the four brothers, had one of his sais proficiently placed inside of the enemy's mouth while Michelangelo looked on in amusement as he restrained the Foot ninja from behind, interlocking his arms into a grip that resembled a pretzel.

The captive blinked rapidly as he tried to keep from gagging on the tip of the weapon and his mouth was stretched to its limit, making his skin look like the cured membrane of a traditional drum. His eyes flicked back and forth from his tormentor to Don and Leo, pleading with them as though they were the very essence of reason and mercy, who had arrived to quell their brother's hell-raising fury.

"Care if we join the party?" Donatello asked nonchalantly, moving closer to peer at Raph's blade, which was three quarters of the way down the black cave of the man's oral cavity.

"_Party_?" Mikey snorted, "More like Raph's Dental Care Clinic. He's the type that gives dentists a bad name. Think 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Dentist of New York!' Or – or better yet; 'Raphael: The Mutant Dentist of New York.'"

"Thank you for that, Michelangelo," Donatello deadpanned.

Mikey smiled roguishly, "My pleasure, Bro."

"Raphael, remove your sai from the man's mouth," Leonardo ordered, ignoring the satisfied smirk on his red-masked brother's face.

"I don't see why I have to," he replied obstinately.

Leonardo groaned inwardly and bit his tongue from calling out his brother on insubordination. There were too many things at stake for them to let petty differences come in their way this time; so he willingly allowed the transgression to pass. He decided to empathize with the red-masked terrapin, because for Raphael, even for Donny and Mikey, not being able to save their father had to be as wearing and tearing on them as it was on him.

Summoning his patience, Leonardo simply pointed out that they could not get any answers from the man if he (Raphael) kept him that way – with a sai down his throat.

"Well it ain't like he's talking anyway." The red-masked turtle retorted, glaring into the ninja's face for a moment before he drew his _sai_ out and rubbed it clean on the man's shirt. "How 'bout we stop playing games with each other, uh?" He nudged the man hard in his chest with the _tsukagashira_ of the sai. "You tell us what we wanna know and we let you go free; unharmed. What do you say?"

The man scowled and spat back viciously. "Screw you, freaks!"

Then, almost instantly, the Foot soldier's head whipped to the side violently and Raphael's fist was returning to his side. By the time he recovered, he was looking back at the mutants with a red mouth and some of his teeth clinked on the ground where he spat them out in a slimy soup of blood.

"Ah, ah, ah," Mikey shook his head, "Remember, we agreed to only use nice words." He tightened his hold on the human's arms, forcing him to gasp in pain.

"I will only ask this once," Leonardo took a step forward, bringing himself shoulder to shoulder with Raphael, and lowered his head to look the man directly in the eyes. "Where are you keeping Master Splinter?" The flat side of his blade gently touched the man's bruised jaw.

A peal of laughter erupted from the ninja's bloodied lip and he leveled his gaze on the blue-masked terrapin. "Your threats do not scare _me_, freak. You were always too weak to kill your enemies. Unfit to be called _ninja._"

Donatello's hand suddenly flew up to catch Raphael's own in mid-flight as it was about to connect sharply with the man's face once more. "I won't be able to stop the him next time," he warned the human, "so I'd suggest you start talking." He then released his brother's wrist once he felt he had significantly calmed down.

The man glared at them in silence before he opened his mouth to speak again. "You are in no position to threaten me," he said, smirking at them. "Not when our Master has her eyes on your human friends."

Mikey wrung his arms even harder, making him wince involuntarily. "Kill me if you want, turtle, but I highly doubt you would do it," he continued, inching his chin further upward from Leo's sword edge. "The Shredder sees and knows everything. We know where they live, how they move, what they eat, and even when they breathe… Especially that charming female friend of yours who likes to keep you around as a pet," he sneered, pointedly locking his pale grey eyes unto Leonardo.

All four mutants stiffened.

_Clatter, clink! Crack!_

Shock and silence followed the sudden sound. Leonardo's heart was racing like a wild stallion in his chest. His blood gushed through his vein fuelling them with pure, heated adrenaline. _It can't be._ The words formed in his mind on their own and he looked down at his hands. They were shaking, and his katanas were lying on the ground near to his toes.

"Leo!" Raph's cry sounded like a distant bell in a dense, darkening fog and it was filled with disbelief and anger.

"Why did you do that?" Donatello's voice cut through the freezing ice in the leader's brain, bringing him back to the ground.

"Don?" Leonardo's voice shook as he focused on his purple-masked sibling. Donatello's eyes were wide and he was staring at him with absolute surprise on his face. "Don, what – what was he - ?"

"Guys?" Mikey croaked from somewhere beside; his voice seeming strained.

When Leonardo turned his head to face his most jovial brother, he saw that he was struggling to hold up the Foot soldier in his arms. The man's jaw was slack and his head hung low at an awkward angle, revealing the severed bones in his neck under the skin.

"Mikey, let go of him!" Raphael commanded causing the turtle to immediately drop the man's body. He then spun around on the eldest, "What the hell, Leo! You killed the man! And you want to lecture _me_ about self-control!" Raph's voice thundered across the city air, rustling a couple birds out of their roosts and frightening some cats down in the alleyway below.

"I – I know, I know. I screwed up big time," Leonardo groaned, bending down to retrieve his weapons from the ground. He straightened up, greeting his brothers with an expression that could have mirrored a range of emotions from nervousness to shame, and carefully re-holstered his twin blades. "I'm really sorry, guys. I guess I lost it when he mentioned -"

"_April_, Leo," Donatello inserted quickly. "He was talking about April." He grabbed hold of Leo's shoulder and gave him a quick and firm shake, "Her apartment is under surveillance, remember?"

"Yeah…But the way he looked at me, Donny, it was as if he _knew _about her," the blue-masked ninja admitted; his mind warped on the young nurse at home alone in her house.

"He was messing with you," Michelangelo spoke up at last, rolling his eyes to the heavens for dramatic emphasis, "Like he was messing with me and Raph before you got here. The dude's obsessed with April. He thought that we each had our own infatuation with her, can you believe that? You should have heard what he told Raph."

Leo frowned at his orange-masked brother, "No… it did not sound like that to me."

Raphael coughed. "That's probably because you're so caught up being sick with lo -"

"Ah!" Donatello promptly interrupted the hot headed turtle. "Not here," he narrowed his eyes at Raph who in turn wrinkled his face. Then to Leo he said, "She's safe and you know this. I would have told you if I had seen any Foot members nearby and I haven't. That was the purpose of having me set up cameras over there a few months ago, right?"

"Yes, you're right," Leonardo agreed, "and I guess they would've attacked me sooner if they had found out. I suppose I would have been the perfect target for them – alone, outnumbered and with a liability."

His mood darkened at his own words as he dwelled on the reality of their circumstances. If they did find out about Hazel, then what's going to stop them from taking the opportunity to try to bring down one of their most despised enemies? The levels of animosity between the two clans were at staggering proportions; where the Foot would scramble at any means to bring the four terrapins down to full submission. This was the life he led; a life full of hate, deceit and death. A life he had evidently dragged an innocent woman into and soon enough, their worlds were going to implode at the crossing point. The real question was: how was he going to stop it? And he already knew the answer to that.

"_Right_," the red-masked ninja drawled, "So now that all of this has been cleared up with you, Fearless Leader, you owe us another squealer." He jabbed a thumb at his elder brother's plastron.

"Yeah," Mikey joined in, "they keep dying with you. It's like you're the Foot Ninja Angel of Death or something." He looked down at his brother's victim, shaking his head. "Poor guy never stood a chance. Geesh, now I'm afraid to even say the H-word." Michelangelo cackled, ducking and rolling away from Leonardo's arm to sprint off.

The remaining Hamato clan members sighed in unison; daunted by Mikey's rapid burst of energy, and followed after him across the sleeping city under the swollen belly of the pregnant, silver moon. The time for them to stop had not yet come, since Splinter was the mark of the endgame.

* * *

_A/N: You can sue me for the uncharacteristic Leo. The dude's under a lot of pressure. Heh Heh._

_Vocabulary:_

_tsuka__ - the handle of the katana or sai._

_tsukagashira __- the base of the handle on the sai._

Technically all foreign languages are supposed to be underlined and in italics, but the words '

_katana__' and '__sai__' just seem like they have been integrated largely into English writing (fanfic) so I refused to go back and underline them and whatnot. _


End file.
